Mizoram CM discuss refugee issue with PM

New Delhi: Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and discussed several issues including the Myanmar refugee issue.

Lalduhoma apprised the Prime Minister that the current border with Myanmar was forced upon the two ethnic groups by the then British government without the prior consent of the people and that it is still unacceptable for people on both sides of the border.

He further stated that the wish of people on both sides of the border was to come under one administration and that the refugees seeking shelter inside Mizoram were not treated differently but as brothers and sisters of the Mizo people.

The Myanmar refugees belong to the Chin-Zo ethnic tribe and have similar ethnic, cultural and traditional ties with the Mizos of Mizoram.The Chief Minister also extended his wish for a ‘Greater Mizoram’ as part of the ‘Akhand Bharat’. Lalduhoma also stated in his social media posts that the Prime Minister had advised him to submit a proposal for a better and uniformed system of the Inner Line Permit (ILP). The ILP, under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, is now being enforced in Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.